3 charged with pickpocketing senior citizen in Elmhurst, buying $17K worth of gift cards with her credit card

ELMHURST, Ill. - Three suspects have been charged with pickpocketing a senior citizen in Elmhurst and then immediately using her credit card to purchase $17,000 worth of gift cards.

Tyrell Frazier, 59, of Chicago, Sherman Gibbs, 62, of Chicago, and Nedra Bost, 50, of Harvey were all charged with burglary and theft – unauthorized control of property between $10,000 and $100,000.

Gibbs was also charged with obstructing identification. 

At about 2:40 p.m. on March 16, Elmhurst police officers observed a vehicle in the parking lot of a restaurant near the intersection of North Avenue and York Street.

Police said the vehicle was associated with suspects who allegedly committed a prior pickpocketing crime.

Detectives responded to the scene and began surveillance of the restaurant. They then observed two male suspects commit a ruse pickpocket crime.

According to police, one of the men acted as if his arm became stuck in the front door of the restaurant as a female senior citizen approached the doorway to exit.

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While the woman was distracted by the man in the door, a second man stepped up behind her and quickly stole her wallet from her purse.

The two suspects then got into a waiting van in the parking lot that was occupied by a third female suspect.

Elmhurst detectives continued to observe the van as it drove directly to a nearby big-box store on North Avenue.

The female suspect and one of the men used the victim's credit card to purchase approximately $17,000 worth of gift cards from the store using a self-checkout lane, police said.

As the two suspects exited the store, detectives arrested them.

The third suspect was also taken into custody as he waited in the van in the parking lot. 

Another detective made contact with the victim and told her that her wallet was stolen and helped her report the credit card charges as fraudulent. 

The purchased gift cards were seized as evidence. 

The suspects have been transported to the DuPage County Judicial Center for bond hearings.